5Summary: Judgment goes out of town on a mission, taking Moon and Blaze with him. So who's taking care of Metal?
Rating: T (mostly for language. Sun has a really colorful vocabulary.)
Notes: Spoliers for V6Ch4 and slight spoilers for Moon's side story Pride. The way that Lesus finds out about Laica is directly based on canon that is revealed in Moon's side story. Concept inspired by a conversation I had with a few people on Prince Revolution. net - what would happen if Judgment left and Sun had to take care of Metal?
Disclaimer: Ideas are wholly mine, but alas, characters belong to Yu Wo. The name of the story was inspired by 100thAngel.
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Lesus is good at keeping secrets. Even if he turned his back on himself, he would never turn his back on his companions… but this time, Lesus needs a favor. Even if Grisia consents, he's never been one to do things alone.
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Prologue
Judgment
When I left on the mission for the Pope, I knew full well that I was leaving the entire Holy Temple in Grisia Sun's care. And although I was fairly certain that meant I was actually leaving Sun's vice-captain Adair in charge of internal affairs, there are certain things that only a leader of the Twelve Holy Knights can do. Particularly if it involves the well-being of those Twelve Holy Knights. Which meant telling Sun certain, well, secrets, about my own faction.
That meant letting Grisia know about Metal's, ah, more unusual tendencies.
Namely, his tendency toward pain.
"He likes it," I told a sputtering Grisia. "Please look after him and make sure he doesn't do anything reckless."
I had refused to leave until I'd extracted a promise from Grisia to take care of all the holy knights.
When I finally returned to the Holy Temple, I bid goodbye to Blaze and Moon, then immediately set off to find the Pope. After briefing His Holiness on the status of the mission (we had been ordered to recapture a man who had been suspected of the murder of a young family - The Pope had suspected that he was possessed by evil spirits, and thus had ordered me to bring along Blaze, who specialized in exorcisms and Moon, who specialized in restraining criminals), I set off to check on the rest of my knights.
I found Metal one of the small rooms in the armory, polishing his blades, a trademark of his occupation. From what I had heard of his past, it was his fascination with the previous Metal Knight's impressive collection that had prompted him to apply for the position in the first place.
I closed the door behind me quietly. It was dangerous to startle anyone handling such sharp implements.
Metal looked up from his work. He grinned.
"Hey, you're back. Long mission, yeah?"
I nodded. He looked so happy at our return that I could not help but think of Grisia likening him to a puppy. It made me feel all the more guilty for not bringing him on the mission with us. The sensation was illogical, though. Even if I wanted to, I could not have found a reason to justify his presence (and finances needed for the extra supplies) to the Pope.
"I'm sorry," I say quietly. "I did not mean to leave you all for so long."
Metal's shoulders slumped. Oh. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything after all.
"Nah, 's'cool," he said, not meeting my gaze. His fingers flicked almost nervously over the blades.
I touched his shoulder in what was I hoped was a comforting gesture. He gave a yelp and jerked back almost involuntarily.
Only years of training as the Temple's Judgment Knight (and Metal's handler) kept me from panicking and immediately assessing Metal for any signs of physical damage. As I watched, his eyes slid shut, his frown deepened as he tried to school his expression, but even so, I saw it. A flash of pain and that other emotion.
Unexpected bliss.
Barely a moment passed as his eyes suddenly opened and he gave me a smile that undoubtedly meant to reassure me.
"You should go out of town for often, Judgment," he said with a grin, his eyes taking on a dreamy quality.
I closed my eyes. Well, at least he wasn't upset. That was reassuring.
His reaction, on the other hand...
Even if I had asked Sun to "take care" of him, maybe I should have been more specific. It would have been the least he could do to patch him up when he was done!
...Unless Grisia had left him like this on purpose. Images of a sadistically grinning Sun Knight floated through my mind, unbidden. Was I seeing a new side of my friend? The thought was… disturbing.
Metall was still staring off in a happy daze. I shook my head slightly, forcing the images away.
"Sun didn't heal you?" I asked, trying to pull his attention back to the present.
He blinked, his face adopting a somewhat confused expression.
"Eh? No, was he supposed to?"
"Yes." I thought that much was obvious.
Sun, you really are being too reckless.
Metal shook his head and shrugged. Now that I was really looking, Metal seemed somewhat worse for the wear. Even the simplest of motions made him wince.
He looked like he could pass out any second, actually.
"We need to find Sun," I said. "Do you think you can stand?"
Metal snorted. "Of cours-" He set his knives aside and started to stand, but staggered back against the wall in surprise as his legs almost gave out beneath him. I grabbed his arm.
"Oookay, maybe not," he said, grinning slightly. He looked a little dazed.
Dear God of Light. Grisia, what have you done?
I offered Laica my arm. He clamped on to it gratefully, letting me pull him toward the door.
Once I made sure Metal wasn't going to faint from his injuries, Grisia had quite a bit of explaining to do.
A/N: For anyone ready to throw a brick at me for crack-fic, Lesus does actually reward Laica in this way (as you'll see in Yu Wo's short story for Moon entitled "Pride). Perhaps Sun takes things to far... but as you'll see in the next chapter, Sun may have less to do with it than you think.
Even if you don't like it, please review and let me know what you think! Really, writers can't improve unless readers let them know how they feel.
Sun's antics are so much fun to write.